Tag Archives: Whole30

I have a few things going against me when it comes to dieting. First off, I grew up in Minnesota. This is/was(?) the land of meat roasts, mashed potatoes, gravy and bread. Milk (usually whole) was common with meals. Vegetables were an afterthought – open a can of something, boil it for ten minutes, cool and serve. Then like half the population now days near my age, I have my assorted health problems.

Most food is anything but healthy and wise for most people planning to diet.

In short, I had a lot overcome. I thought I ate healthy meals and a few snacks. Bad habits, bad habits, and bad habits were a major part of my eating well. Learning that my eating in particular and foods I ate in general, made a poor foundation for eating well.

It is hard to know you are not eating healthy when everyone you know eats like you, or eats worse than you. Then there are the articles and news sources scaring you over one food after another. I think these are the number one problem for people trying to lose weight. We know what should be healthy, but we do not understand how to do it.

We have no idea what healthy eating is. We put diets into a category of something we do to lose weight. We rarely relate “diet” with correct eating, or at least closer to eating healthier. Whew, I’m through with this diet, I lost xx pounds and I’m done with it. Maybe a doughnut, or a little ice cream to celebrate….

“I know I can’t eat like I used to but at least I can a few of the things I really have been missing.” Well, I have been off my diet for a few weeks now and I have only gained x (hopefully not xx) pounds. I guess weight loss is normal? Everyone say’s it is. It’s been three months now, and I gained even more weight. I don’t understand! I am not eating like I used to…

Oh no, it’s my fourth month, and I have gained back all the wight I had lost except two or three pounds. If the above paragraphs sound familiar it is because they are all too common for too many people. Until this year, I would count myself as one of the people thinking these things.

This year, knowing I have a gluten allergy, I spotted the Whole30 plan in the book store. After seeing it around on and off, and browsing through it on and off, I bought the book, read it, and started following the Whole30 plan. You can read about it here:

I think this post is the post is where I fully realized the concept of eating correctly. There is no magic cure, no magic pill. I won’t bore you with the plethora of diet fallacies out there, I will provide one short example. The Acai Berry, was once the magic bullet of weight loss. The Acai Berry and a cheap magnesium pill do and are essentially the same thing. Acai Berries are natural magnesium supplements. Before you leave this post, remember, there is no diet shortcut, no magic pill or exercise. Common sense and the correct way of eating are the only way to successfully change your dieting life.

Diet education, and diet incorporation is the answer. The Whole30 and Paleo Diet make correct, healthy eating obvious, if you can not understand what they are doing for you, and why they work, you may need to see a counselor, because the problem is not in your diet. No offense meant, but that is the way it is.

Many people try to diet and sabotage themselves, as I did for years, once they leave or fall off the diet they were on. A healthy diet, is learning how to eat for the rest of your life, not a few weeks or months. A healthy diet is not setting a goal of losing some number of pounds and then eating as you did before your weight loss.

The key to healthy eating and weight loss is as simple as I write about in the diet posts above. The greatest gift I received from Whole30 and Paleo is this: If you are unable to identify the ingredients in the food you are about to eat, you shouldn’t be eating it. Simple is healthy, when it comes to food.